Sir Christopher Lee

Very sad news today...

Legendary British actor Sir Christopher Lee has died. He was 93. 

Lee, who played Dracula in a series of classic Hammer horror films and was Saruman in the Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit movies, among many other iconic roles, passed away on Sunday. The prolific actor was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship in 2011 and the BFI Fellowship in 2013. He was knighted in 2009. 

 Lee was introduced to a new legion of fans when he first played the evil Saruman in 2001’s The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring. He continued in that role for each of the trilogy’s installments and was also Count Dooku in Star Wars prequels Attack Of The Clones and Revenge Of The Sith. More recently, he reprised his role as Saruman in Peter Jackson’s Hobbit movies. His other recent credits include Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, and voice work in Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland and Corpse Bride, among other collaborations.

He lived a long life and had an incredible career, so will be long remembered for many generations to come.

He will be missed.

Hobbit Video Blog 14

Here's Peter Jackson's latest video blog from the Hobbit production team...

Post by Peter Jackson.

I really love this series of videos a lot.

Hobbit Video Blog 12

Peter Jackson posted a new video blog from the set of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug today. Just like the others, it's very entertaining and enjoyable to watch how much fun they all seem to be having making these movies.

Embiggen the screen to get the full visual effect.

Post by Peter Jackson.

However, I'm not looking forward to the giant spiders scene.

::shudder::

The Hobbit: Video Blog 11

Peter Jackson just posted a new video blog on his Facebook page. This one covers gathering the cast and crew together again to shoot some additional scenes for the upcoming movies, including The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

As with the previous video blogs, it's very entertaining...



Also, last week was Orlando Bloom's final day on the set and he and the crew celebrated with a few beers and this entertaining video...



It looks like they might have had just a "little" to drink before putting that together.

Here is the original "They're taking the Hobbits to Isengard" video remix.



Now that song is stuck in my head....

The Hobbits, the Hobbits, the Hobbits, the Hobbits...to Isengard!

FIRST LOOK: Hobbit Poster and Trailer

Peter Jackson released the first Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug poster over the weekend on his Facebook page and then, today, released the first official trailer (which is rumored to be showing with Man of Steel this weekend).



It's nice to see the first appearances of Orlando Bloom and Evangeline Lily as Tauriel, as well.





The trailer looks pretty cool, although I honestly think that the Hobbit films are using too much CGI (unlike the Lord of the Rings films which, although they used a lot of CGI, had a much nicer balance of real locations/sets and much more subtle/realistic-looking CGI).

The Hobbit movies look more like a video game (just like the two Matrix sequels did), than a live action-adventure film.

But...I'm still looking forward to watching them anyway because they are pretty amazing video games to watch!



UPDATE: Peter Jackson just uploaded a video of Evangeline Lily, Orlando Bloom, and Lee Pace watching a video of two kids seeing the new Hobbit trailer for the first time. It's funny to see their reaction to the fan's excitement for the film and their characters.



The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug opens on December 13th.

Location, location, location

Peter Jackson released a new behind-the-scenes video this week that is focused on some of the locations they used during the filming of the Hobbit movies (to go along with the recent Part 1 DVD release).



They went to some amazing places...





New Zealand really is that beautiful...I highly recommend that you visit if you ever get the opportunity.

You won't be disappointed.

The journey begins...

Well, it's finally here. The first of the three Hobbit movies opens today. I am planning to see it on Sunday.

Peter Jackson posted a really fun new video blog today that covers final production on the movie and some of the hijinx at the World Premiere in New Zealand.



Also, here is a great behind-the-scenes video on the making of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and all the prep that has gone into it over the past year and leading up to the premiere.



I'm so excited, I must say!

Hobbit Video Blog 9

Peter Jackson has released a new video blog that covers the final production stages of getting the Hobbit movie ready for release next month.

Just like the others, it's very entertaining and informative.

Embiggen the video screen below to enjoy the full visual experience.

Only a couple more weeks until the first part is released in theaters.

Yeah!

Call me, maybe?

I thought that was hilarious.

Also, some more good Star Trek news was announced today...

The first trailer for Star Trek Into Darkness will premiere with screenings of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on December 14th. To be clear this Trek trailer is a completely different thing than the 9-minute preview of the beginning of the new movie which will be shown at IMAX screenings of the Hobbit film. Also TrekMovie has confirmed that the IMAX screenings will not be showing the trailer for Star Trek Into Darkness. 

So if you want to see the full trailer, see non-IMAX Hobbit and if you want to see preview of the opening 9 minutes see IMAX Hobbit.

As I said in yesterday's post, I would rather see a trailer about the overall film, than just the first nine minutes and have to wait to see the rest of the film in May.

So I'm even more excited to see The Hobbit next month!

Squeeeee!

Hobbit Posters

A full series of individual character posters for the upcoming Hobbit movies were released recently...













Very enjoyable.

Can't wait for these movies!

You can see the full set of all 17 character posters here.

Also, Air New Zealand has worked with Peter Jackson and created a fun Hobbit-themed pre-flight video for passengers (with some surprise character appearances).



It should help pull the focus from those passengers (like me) who tend to just flip through a magazine while the same old tired flight instructions are barked from the front of the plane.

Dippity Dos

A new movie poster for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was just released by Peter Jackson on his Facebook page.

Those boys must spend a lot of time gittin' thur hur did each morning, cause them are some fancy up-dos they've got going on there.



They also released a character scroll with names. Click here to see the larger version.

The Hobbit Video Blog 8

Peter Jackson was at Comic-Con this year and shared some clips and footage from the upcoming Hobbit movie. So, he added all of that and more to his latest video blog, which covers the final days of shooting the film and lots of cool behind-the-scenes stuff and cast appearances.



Can't wait to see this!

If you've missed any of the other video blogs, you can watch them here.

End Scene

Peter Jackson posted this on his Facebook account today to let people know that he has just wrapped shooting on both of the Hobbit movies.

Part one comes out this December, with the other half arriving next December.

Exciting!

Update: Peter Jackson released an exclusive Comic-con preview poster on his Facebook page today.



Wish I could be there to see his presentation this week.

New Hobbit Video Blog

Peter Jackson has released a seventh video blog from the set of The Hobbit. This one takes you behind the scenes of the various production departments and all the sound stages. As you can see, Orlando Bloom happens to be on the set filming that day too.



I can't wait to see Part 1 of this movie in December!

You can see the other video blogs here.

New Hobbit Video Blog

Peter Jackson has released a new video blog from the set of The Hobbit (they're now filming part 2). And, like all the others, they are great fun to watch. This one focuses on some of the beautiful locations (definitely expand the video to full screen!), one of which is Queenstown, which I have also visited.



I love watching these and wish other movies would do the same thing.

Yes, I'm talking to you Bob Orci and J.J. Abrams currently working on Star Trek 2!

New Hobbit video blog...

Peter Jackson has released another video blog from the set of The Hobbit. This one focuses on the challenges of remote location shooting.



I'm glad that they are going to keep the facades and plants up in Hobbiton when they're done. I may have to go visit it again and compare the difference from my first trip there.

More from the Hobbit set

Peter Jackson has released another great video blog from the set of The Hobbit. This one focuses on filming the movie and drawing the concept art in 3D.



I'm glad this one is being shot in 3D (like Avatar was) rather than "converted" afterwards, which always seems to suck.

New Hobbit video blog...

Peter Jackson has released a third video blog from the set of the new Hobbit movie being filmed in New Zealand. Much of it focuses on the new Hobbits in the film (above).



I really enjoy these behind-the-scenes peeks.

The journey continues....

If you enjoyed Peter Jackson's first video blog from the set of The Hobbit, you'll definitely enjoy the new one he just released. Especially the gorgeous location scouting they do throughout New Zealand.

I highly recommend enlarging the video screen while watching.



The mountain vistas and landscapes are breathtaking.

Exciting!

The journey begins...again

Peter Jackson started filming the new Hobbit movies a couple weeks ago and, as part of his journey, has decided to shoot video blogs along the way to document the process of making the new two-part movie. He posted his first one, documenting the first day of shooting, on his Facebook page yesterday and, if you enjoyed the Lord of the Rings movies, you're gonna love this!



You get to see some very detailed shots/tours of the sets, costumes, props, new actors rehearsing (Ian McKellan, Gandalf, is also there), and much more. All of the actors above are returning (well, Orlando Bloom hasn't been "officially" announced, but the rumor-mill has all but confirmed it) as well as Hugo Weaving as the leader of the Elves. So there should be a lot of really cool stuff to see as things progress over the next couple of years.

I highly recommend enlarging the video to full screen when watching.



This is crazy exciting!